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NEWSLETTER

Monday, 15 June 2015

*Image courtesy of Amazon.com

Summary:

Most of us are familiar with the story of Robinson Crusoe, stranded on a deserted island for nearly three decades with only his wit and perseverance to help him survive it's many perils. In this book, Peter Clines takes the original story and combines it with elements of Lovecraft to create a supernatural version of the classic tale.

Review:

I'm almost always a fan of the retelling of classic stories with an unusual twist. Be it Pride, Prejudice and Zombies or Sherlock Holmes in the 22nd Century (90's cartoon). I greatly appreciate when an author is able to breathe new life into a classic story.

To be honest, I only ever read the Great Illustrated Classics version of Robinson Crusoe. As a result, I may have missed some details of the original book that would have made it a lot less boring. To me it was a survival story without a lot of survival but with a lot of luck. That's what I was looking forward to this retelling. Crusoe as a werewolf gives his survival more credibility. It's easier for me to believe that a werewolf could survive almost 30 years on this island as opposed to a regular mortal man.

The inclusion of some Lovecraft elements, predominantly Cthulu, also gave the story a bit more flavor and even some legitimately scary scenes. It also helped to explain why the natives on nearby islands found this particular island to be sacred ground for their church, rather than another island to live on. Clines' inclusion of supernatural elements actually does help the overall story to make more sense than the version of the original that I had read.

Of course, for me, there were still some boring parts. This retelling still stays fairly true to the original, so it's not surprising that there were times when Crusoe's story seemed mundane. But, if you enjoy a classic with a twist, or supernatural elements as commonplace, I definitely recommend The Eerie Adventures of the Lycanthrope Robinson Crusoe. I happily give 4 out of 5.